“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” - George W. Bush

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Obama moves to normalize US relations with Cuba

The process involved an unusual intervention by Pope Francis, who opened the Vatican to help seal an agreement and wrote personal letters to President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro calling for a prisoner exchange and a resumption of diplomatic relations.

In February, hackers laid digital waste to Sheldon Adelson’s Sands casino, forcing the Sands to temporarily disconnect from the Internet. It was a massive undertaking that wiped out or compromised millions of files...

The security team couldn’t determine if Iran’s government played a role, but it’s unlikely that any hackers inside the country could pull off an attack of that scope without its knowledge, given the close scrutiny of Internet use within its borders. “This isn’t the kind of business you can get into in Iran without the government knowing,” says James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Shall we elevate North Korea to the coveted status of "Mother Iran", a sacred cow? After all, they are only hurting "those" Americans. Not to worry, they will get around to the others as it suits. Enjoy!

My cell phone has been going off for hours with messages and angry conversations with fellow Cuban-Americans and conservatives in the U.S.

I hear this question over and over: what did the U.S. get out of this deal?

The answer is nothing, unless you are one of those who believes that the Castro regime is about to reform the economy, allow an independent media, and hold multi-party elections.

I have a unique perspective on this issue. I can address it as a Cuban-American and as a U.S. citizen. In other words, I want the best for those on the island and in my adopted homeland, the U.S.

It's great to see that Alan Gross is finally home. He was incarcerated on bogus espionage charges. I do not understand why we released three Cubans sitting in U.S. prisons for real acts of espionage. It's an insult to the rule of law to put Mr. Gross and these three spies on the same sentence.

As a Cuban-American, I can tell you that normalizing relations will have little impact on the Cuban people. Everything of consequence in Cuba is owned by the Castro family or the military, as Professor Suchlicki pointed out recently:

Money from American tourists would flow into businesses owned by the Castro government thus strengthening state enterprises. The tourist industry is controlled by the military and General Raul Castro.

Tourist dollars would be spent on products, i.e., rum, tobacco, etc., produced by state enterprises, and tourists would stay in hotels owned partially or wholly by the Cuban government.

The principal airline shuffling tourists around the island, Gaviota, is owned and operated by the Cuban military.

Why are we consolidating their hold on the Cuban economy? In other words, you are not going to Cuba to start a joint venture with a Cuban entrepreneur. Instead, you are aligning yourself with a state enterprise that benefits a small group of elites related to the Castro family or the infamous Castro Inc.

For over four decades, Fidel Castro has arbitrarily controlled and had at his sole disposal practically all of Cuba’s financial and economic resources. According to countless first-handreports by former regime higher-ups, he alone and at his discretion has the last word on all decisions affecting the political and economic destiny of the entire Cuban nation. Most Cuba experts and scholars agree on this point. Alcibíades Hidalgo, one of the highest-ranking defectors ever to flee the island, explained: “It is simply impossible to undertake any political or economic initiative in Cuba. The only option one has is to surrender to the dictates of the regimeand to the thinking of the one and only maximum leader, who is above all the citizens.” ...

“Fidel is accountable to no one and is able to live his own reality.”

As a U.S. citizen, raised here, and the father of three sons born in Texas, I don't see how this decision projects strength or promotes U.S. interests around the world. What message are we sending to the world? Will rogue states understand that it's convenient to capture a U.S. citizen and then demand concessions from the U.S.?

What about the $7 billion of U.S. investment stolen by the Communists, or the reason that the embargo was created in the first place? Who is going to compensate these U.S. investors? Did the Cuban government agree to do it?

A very bad day for freedom and the families of the thousands executed by the Cuban regime over the years.

>>>>Money from American tourists would flow into businesses owned by the Castro government thus strengthening state enterprises. The tourist industry is controlled by the military and General Raul Castro.

Tourist dollars would be spent on products, i.e., rum, tobacco, etc., produced by state enterprises, and tourists would stay in hotels owned partially or wholly by the Cuban government.

The principal airline shuffling tourists around the island, Gaviota, is owned and operated by the Cuban military.

Of course the Floridian Cubans and the Republicans are hooting and hollering about Obama’s smart move in ending our foolish self isolation of the US from Cuba. It has given the Republicans a boost in Florida that they will now lose to the always reliable Jewish vote for the Democrats.

The US has been the loser, especially Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. New Orleans was Havana’s trading partner for centuries. Money that could have been invested in the US Gulf Coat has been leaving Miami going to Latin America.

Kennedy screwed that up and don’t think that the Kennedy involvement with bootleggers and the the likes of Myer Lansky didn’t play a role.

The last significant poll on Cuba, a Washington Post-ABC News poll in 2009, showed that two-thirds of Americans (66 percent) wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, while 27 percent opposed doing so.

The Israeli Lobby is nervous about it because the precedent could lead to normalization of US relations with Iran. As always, the lobby, first and foremost, is not interested in what Americans want or what is in US interest. Everything must be scrutinized on how it benefits Israel.

...While rebuking Europe’s states, Netanyahu yesterday praised the United States’ friendship. He believes his Republican allies in Congress, AIPAC and the various Jewish organizations, as well President Obama’s being in his last two years in office, will ensure him quiet and, more than anything, the continued American veto in the UN Security Council.

Obama’s dramatic announcement Wednesday about renewing diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than 50 years should be a warning sign to Netanyahu that his analysis is wrong. Obama has shown that when he is almost completely unfettered by political constraints, he has no problem clashing with the powerful Cuban lobby and throwing America’s failed embargo policy into history’s dustbin.

Obama may do the same when it comes to the Palestinians. He can lock horns with the pro-Israel lobby and repudiate the veto policy and the diplomatic protection the United States has given the Israeli occupation and the West Bank settlements in the last 47 years. If this happens, even talking about the Six Million won’t convince anyone.

I think Mr. Obama should be true to his democratic principles. The sooner Israeli politicians have to deal with reality the better. If Israel wishes to survive, the Israeli public must start looking for mature leadership and abandon its current alley of clowns. Frankly, the more I think about it, the better I like the idea.

It wasn’t America’s problem. America was at war defending itself. Rufus has pointedly posted multiple incidents where the US is not going to help overrun Iraqi or Syrian towns where the locals are not helping themselves. Had the Jews did what they should have done early enough to resist, maybe things would have been different. The Jews were being killed by their neighbors, not by Americans.

Surely, some sociological explanation must have been determined.Were Jews universally hated? Why were they? Is it because of Christianity and Judaism? Catholicism and Judaism? Most of the Southern Americas is Catholic and there are Jews in every Spanish speaking country that I have visited and there does not seem to be much of an issue.

There is still no great ardor for Jews in Europe, but that seems to be related to treatment of the Palestinians.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's central bank said it would start charging banks for deposits in francs for the first time since the 1970s, hoping to stem a flight to the safe-haven currency driven by concern over the euro zone and Russia's deepening crisis.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)—The U.S. dollar and euro extended their gains against the Swiss franc Thursday after the Swiss National Bank said it plans to lower its overnight interest rate to -0.25% in an effort to weaken the franc.

The franc has strengthened recently as falling crude oil prices and a weakening ruble sent investors rushing into “safe” assets like U.S. and German sovereign bonds, and other currencies like the yen, Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said in a note

John Doyle, director of markets at Tempus Inc., said the SNB cut its rates to help the franc maintain its historical level of 1.20 francs to the euro. The euro is expected to weaken in 2015 as the European Central Bank expands its program of asset purchases, increasing the supply of euros.

Switzerland’s main trading partners are European Union countries, according to Swiss government data.

Look at the trillion dollar spending bill, the bill not one Republican read, that was sent for Obama’s signature. Look at what is in that bill and take all the time and space you like to tell me what the Republicans stand for.

RTISEMENTA U.S. military commander used the term "Daesh" to describe the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) at a Pentagon briefing for the first time on Thursday.

The term is the Arabic acronym for ISIS, but the State Department and coalition partners in the region use it since it also sounds like the Arabic word for "crush underneath the foot."

"Our partners, at least the ones that I work with, ask us to use that because they feel that if you use ISIL that you legitimize a self-declared caliphate, and actually they feel pretty strongly that we should not be doing that," said Army Lt. Gen. James L. Terry, commander of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve. ISIL is another acronym used for ISIS.

"Daesh is why we are here. Daesh uses terror and fear to dominate people and reward themselves. It has demonstrated time and time again a disregard for life and humanity. It has also openly stated intentions to apply its trademark barbaric methods not only regionally, but globally as well," he said.

Daesh, fellas, is the enemy of the US, not Hamas, not Hezbollah.That is the "Law of the Land", the enemy is whomever the President determines it is, and it is Daesh.

No doubt, buried somewhere in SOD with liaison to DOD is a Department of Anonyms.

Hell, officials from SOD signed off on Sony's the Interview and reportedly 'thought' it might be positive propaganda for us. It is also clear the CIA shaped the narrative in the movie Zero Dark Thirty.

When asked about these instances on CNN, new White House spokesperson, Dana Goebbels offered, "I know nothing!!!"

Jack HawkinsThu Dec 18, 01:14:00 PM ESTWell, allen, you should lead the way in advocating for the revocation of the "Loan Guarantees" and the stopping the US funding the ammo needed for the "Iron Dome" system.

Get the Chinese, or maybe the Russians to subsidize the Zionist nightmare.

Israel could take a page from America, Russia and China and make the Iron Dome obsolete in an hour…

Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.“We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda. “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.

The Rat Doctrine is employed when and where the local forces that the Coalition has the ability to communicate and coordinate with are provided close air support from the Coalition when they are engaged in combat with the Daesh.

These three militias, they didn't qualify for the Rat Doctrine. They were not in combat against the Daesh.Never were, they just took US for the three hots and a cot their troops got while engaged in US military training.

The Syrian rebel militia Al Yarmouk Shuhada Brigades, backed and trained for two years by US officers, mostly CIA experts, in Jordan, and supported by the Israeli army, has abruptly dumped these sponsors and joined up with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, debkafile’s exclusive military and counter-terrorism sources reveal.

The sudden defection of this 2,000-strong anti-Assad force leaves IDF defense formations on the Golan, US and Jordanian deployments in the northern part of the kingdom, and pro-Western rebel conquests in southern Syria in danger of collapse.

The Brigades’ jump into the radical jihadi camp was negotiated in the last two weeks by its commander Mousab Ali Qarfan, who also goes by the name of Mousab Zaytouneh. He was in direct contact with ISIS chief Abu Baqr Al-Baghdadi, whom our sources report has recently relocated from Iraq to his northern Syrian headquarters at al-Raqqa.

Unlike the Sinai Islamists, Ansar Beit al Maqdis, the Yarmouk Brigades did not pledge allegiance to ISIS. The ir pact was forged as an operational alliance, which is just as grave a peril for the rebel militias’ abandoned allies.

For Israel, in particular, the new development is fraught with three dangers:

1. The Yarmouk Brigades are strung out along Israel’s Golan border with Syria, from the UN peacekeepers camp opposite Kibbutz Ein Zivan (see map) in the north, down to the Israeli-Syrian-Jordanian border junction in the south. The Brigades therefore sit along 45 of the total 76 kilometers of the Syrian-Israeli border. This means that a long stretch of Israel’s Golan border with Syria has fallen under the control of the Islamic State.

2. This militia also commands sections of the Syrian-Jordanian border, as well as districts of the southern Syrian town of Deraa. Therefore, the link between Jordan and southern Syria, which served American strategic interests, is now under military threat.

3. Islamic State forces are preparing to take advantage of their new asset with a buildup near the Druze Mountains (see map) for a rapid push south towards the town of Deraa, where they will join forces with their new ally.

I find no confirmation of this from other media, most particularly Israeli, since it popped up on the internet several weeks ago. If true, it would create a massive headache for Netanyahu that would not be ignored by his political adversaries.

We all know that Haaretz is a mainstream Israeli news source ...Debka ...Debkafile - Official Sitedebka.com Covers current events in Israel for the international user and updated four times a day. Published in both English and Hebrew.

With respect, Mr. Shaw gives Nazi Germany far more credit than due. The Holocaust was a pan-European project. While it is true, for instance, that the Germans demanded custody of Jews in conquered territory, as often as not, the conquered populations anticipated the Nazis, with relish. Look to Lithuania, France, Ukraine, Poland, etc. No, I regret to inform that the Nazi regime simply offered an arrangement to its vassals too good to be true, a final solution to the Jewish problem. Those vassals showed their support for Germany by murdering hundreds of thousands of Jews on their own account, long before the factories came online.

WWII no more killed Nazism than it deracinated European cultural norms, including hatred of Jews. The cultural norm of Europe is undiminished hostility. The stage has changed, the actors have been replaced by time but the play remains the same. Consider: If Europe was free, indeed, of anti-Semitism, there would be no need to ban freedom of speech and assembly. These prohibitions on liberty exist because the old animosities lie barely hidden beneath the skin of pseudo-European probity. Yesterday’s events in Europe are not an historic anomaly.

As to going on the offensive, Mr. Shaw's recommendations are defensive in nature. How dare the miniscule number of European Jews (or all Jews for that matter) "demand" anything from European parliaments, jointly and severally. No, petition is what he means, and petition by Jews for equality both legal and philosophic is defensive -- we entrust our lives to Europe's better angels. How did that work out in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Russian Empire?

Israel’s salvation will lie in a leadership which understands the implacable nature of Israel’s enemies and prepares accordingly. We are no longer unarmed and helpless in the face of the world’s Chmielickis. Whatever the cost and sacrifice, Israel must put itself in the same unassailable position as any other world power seeking perpetuity and the freedom of sovereignty. As Jews, we must gain our independence as humanely as possible, but our actions must not be dictated by an overblown sense of guilt about the necessity of survival at all costs. Put another way, our behavior must be in proportion to the genocidal tendencies of our adversaries. For instance, Israel has now fought three military engagements with Gazans. The second such engagement should have been the last.

Not if you travel Quba Tourism LLC. Then you win the free cigar..................

Jack, Jack, Jack, that is not what I have been calling for.......I've said let them kill one another, finally adopting a realistic Quirkian world view. I was lashed by Quirk for even talking about much less suggesting a humanitarian intervention in Syria. I don't want to go through that again.

And I've said support the Kurds. Support a Kurdish State. That doesn't take lots of boots on the ground. The Kurds will actually fight. Your Doctrine might actually work well enough with them.

So don't put words in my mouth, asshole Jack, and War Criminal and Professional Asshole and dead beat dad.....etc etc.....

Washington (AFP) - US air strikes have killed several leaders of the Islamic State group in Iraq in recent weeks, dealing a blow to the jihadist forces, defense officials said Thursday.

"These were the result of a series of air strikes this month carried out over the course of several days," a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We've long said that command and control, including leadership, remain valid targets."

The strikes -- mostly carried out in northern Iraq -- were aimed at "degrading ISIL's ability to conduct command and control" of their forces, the official said, using an alternative acronym for the group.

The official said the operation was "not insignificant," and reflected a wider effort to pile pressure on the group as Iraqi forces prepare for a major counteroffensive in the coming months.

The strikes against senior figures came as Kurdish forces made gains against the IS militants around Sinjar near the Syrian border.

US officials named three figures who were killed in targeted raids, and said other "mid-level" leaders also were taken out.

"I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed Haji Mutazz and Abd al Basit. Mutazz and Basit were considered high-level leaders within ISIL," a US defense official said.

"Additionally, since mid-September, we've killed several other mid-level ISIL leaders including Radwin Talib," the official said.

The chief of the extremist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was not among those killed, the official added.

Mutazz was believed to be a deputy to Baghdadi, while the man known as Basit was head of the group's military operations, and Talib was identified as a "governor" overseeing the captured northern city of Mosul, officials said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that US forces had taken out several key leaders, quoting the military's top officer, General Martin Dempsey.

The newspaper, quoting unnamed officials, said between December 3 to December 9, air raids killed Basit and Mutazz.

The United States launched air strikes against the IS group on August 8 in Iraq, and expanded the raids to Syria on September 23. A coalition of Western and Arab countries has joined the US-led air campaign, which focused this week on IS militants around Sinjar.

Manhunts against senior leaders has become a common tactic in Washington's war against Al-Qaeda and affiliated extremists over the past decade.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, US intelligence agencies repeatedly targeted senior leaders in drone air strikes in Pakistan and the American military conducted frequent raids on the ground and in the air against senior insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The number of US troops in Iraq is moving from 300 to 3000. I expect that number will rise substantially over time.

If Iraq makes a major move into Anbar, I would expect there will be US troops accompanying them. You can call these guys 'support troops' if it makes you feel better but they will still be in combat situations, they will be wearing boots, and they will fight if they have to.

The Pentagon and DoD have the good sense not to just send lots and lots of weapons to guys who tend to lose them. It has always been bad form to lose your artillery to the foe; which is why, in the bad old days, guns were accompanied by units whose sole responsibility was the hurried spiking of cannon.

Of course, if we are "months" away from training and have not yet determined who will do the training, "The Great Spring Offensive of 2015" is looking a little shaky. Then there is the very touchy matter of whether American "advisers" will be needed to accompany the brand new Iraqi Army units into the field (just to be prudent about the future distribution of all that new hardware). I may be wrong, but 2015 does not look like the year of the big push. Oh, something will have to happen to keep the hometown crowd in the stadium, but it will be minimal I suspect (although highly touted -- burqa clad cheerleaders conjures an amusing spectacle -- "Giv'em an A. Giv'em an R...").

At Waterloo, Ney's cavalry folly prevented the spiking of captured Allied guns much to the chagrin and harm of Napoleon's army. Anticipating the capture of batteries of Wellington's artillery, French cavalry units were formed with the mission of spiking them. In the giant 22 ring circus that materialized because of Ney's poor vision, leading to the entire French mounted force charging at only God knew what, Wellington's guns remained untouched. Such are the vicissitudes of war. Indeed, right up to dusk, the battle might have still gone to the French, even with the arrival of the Prussians. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

It is a well known fact that Mossad is doing the work. Apart from that, I provided a link stating the position of DoD and the Pentagon with reference to their "abysmally tardy" training of Iraqi Army units. The obvious exigencies of the calendar are not my problem.

All this wavering and procrastination reminds me of the balls-up follies of WWI, some of which took place over the same ground as today.

Others could be training Iraqis -- the Jordanians, for example. And how is the Jordanian track record in battle against armed foes? Of course, our new best buds the Iranians might be training. How did their last real war work out?

All of this training, by the way, completely ignores the obvious: most of these groups would just as soon kill one the other as IS troops. In fact, as said before, there is a very good likelihood that the tribal leaders will hoard their newly acquired toys for that rainy day when they might be needed for personal use. A look at Afghanistan's multitudinous warlords might be instructive (I say this knowing that delusion always trumps reality in the short term, if 14 years is such).

Personally, I would love, love, love to see IS gutted, castrated, and crucified. However, I have seen nothing to convince me that this charade will not ultimately end in a negotiated settlement and the de facto partition of Iraq. It is impossible for me to get all hot and bothered about a thrown fight. That I leave to amateurs.

Of this I am certain, US veterans and active duty members will continue to get screwed.

I hope the Kurds have the good sense to keep their powder dry and plentiful; they are going to need it.

“I don’t care if the polls show that 99 percent of people believe we should normalize relations in Cuba. I’d still believe that before we can normalize relations in Cuba, democracy has to come first, or at least significant steps toward democracy,” Rubio said at his Wednesday press conference.

Which is why Rubio promises he will do everything he can to “unravel” the president’s move – from refusing to fund a US embassy in Havana to blocking a presidential nominee for ambassador. As the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere and Global Narcotics Affairs, he will have a high-profile – and powerful – position from which to wage that fight.

Controversial Dutch far-Right politician Geert Wilders to face trial for inciting racial hatred after vowing to make sure there were 'fewer Moroccans' in Holland

The case centres on comments Wilders made at a March 19 rally He asked his followers whether they wanted 'fewer or more Moroccans; Crowd shouted 'Fewer!' Wilders answered: 'We're going to organise that'

Dutch far-right populist lawmaker Geert Wilders is be tried for inciting racial hatred after pledging in March to ensure there were 'fewer Moroccans' in the Netherlands, prosecutors said Thursday.

'The public prosecutor in The Hague is to prosecute Geert Wilders on charges of insulting a group of people based on race and incitement to discrimination and hatred,' prosecutors said in a statement.

'Politicians may go far in their statements, that's part of freedom of expression, but this freedom is limited by the prohibition of discrimination,' it said, adding that no date had yet been set for the trial.

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, seen here in May 2014 in Brussels, sparked outrage over his 'fewer Moroccans' comments

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, seen here in May 2014 in Brussels, sparked outrage over his 'fewer Moroccans' comments

The case centres on comments Wilders made at a March 19 rally after local elections.

He asked his followers whether they wanted 'fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?'

The remark led to 6,400 legal complaints being lodged across the Netherlands, and criticism was even voiced within Wilders's own Party for Freedom. The remark led to 6,400 legal complaints being lodged across the Netherlands, and criticism was even voiced within Wilders's own Party for Freedom+2

The remark led to 6,400 legal complaints being lodged across the Netherlands, and criticism was even voiced within Wilders's own Party for Freedom

In a written statement, Wilders says he 'said what millions of people think and believe.'

'I do not retract anything I have said,' Wilders, whose Party for Freedom (PVV) is leading opinion polls.

'In my fight for freedom and against the Islamisation of the Netherlands, I will never let anyone silence me. No matter the cost, no matter by whom, whatever the consequences may be,' he said.

Wilders is often reviled in Dutch immigrant communities for his fiery anti-Islam rhetoric.

In the past the flamboyant politician has compared the Koran to Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and has called Islam a fascist religion.

He has become the target of death threats and who lives under 24-hour police protection. He has said he expects prosecutors to drop the charges.

A court in 2011 acquitted Wilders on hate-speech charges, ruling that he had targeted a religion, which is permitted under Dutch freedom of speech laws, rather than a specific ethnic group.

The far-right is on the rise across Europe, fed by disillusionment with the establishment, economic hardship and worries over immigration.

In Sweden's neighbour Denmark, the Danish People's Party has seen its support soar on a platform of tight immigration, tougher punishment for criminals and more welfare spending, apparently on track to become the country's biggest party.

The Dutch were also much criticized for diplomatic procrastination, taken as purposeful evasion. Being a republic in truth rather than in the breach, things took a bit longer than in its neighboring monarchies.

It’s been almost five years since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and its promise to “bend the cost curve downward” for Americans and their health care. More than five years have passed since the technical start of the recovery and the Obama administration’s bragging about jobs and economic expansion. The two combined should produce noticeable improvement in the lives of Americans, yes? According to the latest CBS News poll, no (via Jeff Dunetz):

Fifty-two percent of Americans say they find basic medical care affordable, but that’s down from 61 percent last December. Today, for 46 percent of Americans, paying for medical care is a hardship, up 10 points.

Similarly, just over half of Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with their health care costs, while 43 percent are dissatisfied.

Americans are feeling the cost of their health care. Fifty-two percent say the amount of money they pay for out-of-pocket health care costs — those not covered by insurance — has gone up over the past few years, including a third who say those costs have gone up a lot.

Most attribute the rise of out-of-pocket costs to more expensive medical treatment, rather than an increase in the amount of treatment they are receiving.

The cost increase is not coming from increased access to care, either. Only 14% of those responding say they are accessing more treatment than before. For 74% of respondents, health care is just more expensive. More now are less willing to see a doctor, and 78% of those choose to avoid it because of cost alone.

Satisfaction with health care has dropped over the last five years, too. Those somewhat or very satisfied has gone from 78% in September 2009 to 69% in this poll. Dissatisfaction over the quality of care has risen from 18% to 28%.

Not surprisingly, the law that was supposed to solve all of those problems is getting less and less popular. ObamaCare now only gets a 36/55 approval rating, down from 41/51 in September and 41/53 in March. The drop comes despite considerable administration bragging about supposed enrollment successes in the spring, and a relatively trouble-free open enrollment period underway now, at least on the consumer side of the exchanges. As more employers dump their coverage and force their workers into the ObamaCare exchanges, expect those numbers to get even lower

“We are very much interested in exploring flights that we can offer point-to-point from our hub cities in our Florida home,” Silver Airways Chief Executive Sami Teittinen said in a statement. “And Cuba, along with other Southeastern U.S. destinations are perfect examples of this.”

Other travel companies, including Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International and Carnival Corp., all expressed interest in operating in Cuba this week, according to the Associated Press.

“They obviously are chomping at the bit,” said Christopher P. Baker, author of the upcoming Moon Cuba guidebook and a Cuba expert who leads people-to-people programs for National Geographic. “The important thing for them is that they now see there is a potential game changer in Congress; the dialogue has shifted.”

DENVER (Reuters) - Nebraska and Oklahoma challenged neighboring Colorado's recreational marijuana laws in the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday amid complaints its pot was seeping across their borders, and Colorado vowed to defend its laws.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said he joined Oklahoma in filing the action against Colorado, where voters chose to legalize recreational marijuana in a landmark 2012 vote even as the drug remains federally outlawed.

"Federal law undisputedly prohibits the production and sale of marijuana," Bruning said in a statement, adding that drugs threaten the health and safety of children, and calling narcotics trafficking a national, interstate problem.

The lawsuit accuses Colorado of creating "a dangerous gap" in the federal drug control system.

"Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining plaintiffs states' own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice systems," the lawsuit said.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers responded that because neighboring states had expressed concern about Colorado-grown pot crossing their borders, he was "not entirely surprised" by the legal challenge.

"However, it appears the plaintiffs' primary grievance stems from non-enforcement of federal laws regarding marijuana, as opposed to choices made by the voters of Colorado," Suthers said in a statement. "We believe this suit is without merit and we will vigorously defend against it in the U.S. Supreme Court."

The move comes amid a growing momentum for marijuana legalization after voters in Alaska and Oregon opted last month to allow the adult recreational use of marijuana, joining Colorado and Washington state.

While marijuana is classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law, President Barack Obama's administration has given individual states leeway to frame their own rules.

Mike Elliot of the Colorado-based Marijuana Industry Group said Coloradans made their preference for licensed, regulated pot businesses clear at the ballot box.

"If Nebraska and Oklahoma succeed, they will put the violent criminal organizations back in charge," Elliot said.

Kevin Sabet, co-founder of anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, backed the legal action, saying while states should be able to decide appropriate sentencing and criminal sanctions, uniform federal drug laws are vital.

"Colorado's decisions regarding marijuana are not without consequences to neighboring states, and indeed all Americans," Sabet said.

Suthers said Nebraska and Oklahoma's lawsuit was filed for consideration by the justices as an "original case." Such cases typically involve disputes between states over issues such as boundaries and water rights, and often run on for years.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.